Happy Birthday

Look who showed up a month early... here's Lily Kadia Dhas, born November 23, 2007 at 1:05 a.m.

Apparently... she couldn't see her little daytimer inside Andrea's belly and she thought she was supposed to come out on November 22, not December 22. Anyway, early and tiny though she may be, she is here and so lovely and so pretty.

And - what great timing (Lily really is a thoughtful baby)! Mom and Dad had long planned to fly into Toronto today from Ottawa, where Dad was attending some meetings. Little did they know they would be meeting their newest grandchild while here.

So, if anyone is looking for me during the month of December, you can find me hanging out at Andrea and Binu's, loving up Lily.

Hu-rae for Cindy Rae!!

Congratulations Cindy Rae Billington and Tim Middle Name Cadieux!! We are so happy to hear of your engagement!! And even though we won't be in Shaunavon to celebrate with you on your wedding day, we will be praying for you and pretending to be at your wedding (and we have excellent imaginations).

But before your big day comes the big day on January 5, 2008, when we get to meet Tim (this comes as a partial reminder, Cindy, that we're meeting for supper that day!). So excited to see you then!

Hello Moynihans

These are our friends, Dan, Lisa, and Emma. Dan and Lisa take full responsibility for introducing us, laughing at us when we first started dating and sat really far apart from each other on the couch, and then fully cheering for us and supporting us when we got married and as we plan for this trip.

We like them a whole lot.

We'll miss you, Moynihans, while we are away. But we are so excited to meet up with you in Sydney!!

(In this picture, Emma is counting. When she gets to three, she gets to watch the Dora movie.)

Happy Birthdays

In the Kantor family, all of the adults have birthdays in bunches ... so November has Mom and Julie's Birthdays.

Everyone was treated to a Raclette experience for dinner, then delicious cakes and desserts. And even though the cake and presents were for the Birthday girls, guess who had the most fun blowing out candles and opening gifts?

A Canadian Morning

We spent a delightful morning with our nephew Jonathan, who is particularly excited about playing hockey these days. The first challenge was to get all of his gear on ... thank goodness for a step by step list from his mom, or else these two non-hockey players would have been lost, and Jonathan might have been wearing his elbow pads on his knees.

We sat in the stands, enjoyed that rink smell, and watched
as this little guy who could hardly stand on his skates last year was now dashing and darting through the practice drills. He was even told to fall - on purpose - as part of practicing how to get up quickly.

After practice, we made a pitstop at Tim Horton's for hot chocolate and treats.

What a thrill to experience this truly Canadian morning.

Road trip

All right, so in an attempt to ready ourselves for the trip and save some money, we joined the hordes of Canadians flocking to the States while the dollar is good. (Sorry, Canadian economy... we felt guilty all day long.) The trip proved fruitful... David got a waterproof jacket with long-enough sleeves, I got a sleeping bag, we both got some clothes, and we started our Christmas shopping. So three cheers for a productive day.

Pre-shopping, David and I went to Our Lady of Fatima Shrine outside Buffalo (this is where he took me on the day he proposed... he didn't propose here... just took me to Mass and to pray, which was very nice) and THEN we participated in American culture by going to the Old Country Buffet. We held our own quite nicely and amassed this giant pile of plates. David does enjoy a buffet.

So long, good buddy

Well, today we sold Rueben. Trusty friend, faithful confidante, good pal. A car. Yup - after 9 years of driving and laughing together (Rueben is a very happy automobile), my red car and I said goodbye. Perhaps I was a bit more emotional than Rueben in our last few moments together, but I think I saw a little windshield wiper mist trickle from the hood.

Anyway, bittersweet a moment it may be to let go of a car I've become quite attached to (never name your car... that's where the trouble starts), the sale was made to help us along in our trip plans. Now we have a little extra money to put in our travel account and who needs two cars sitting in a driveway in Canada when we're gallavanting all over the world.

So, Rueben now belongs to a lovely lady named Linda. She was very eager to meet Rueben (and even apologized to me for taking the car away). And what makes me happy is that she called a few hours after driving off with Rueben to say "I'm in love! I love him!" (Yes - she said him. She knows Rueben is a boy.) So, isn't that the kind of owner I want Rueben to have? Someone who will love him as much as I did?

Rueben - here's to you and all 117,000 km we had together. Drive safely.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

Andrea and Binu and a big, beautiful belly. This is my niece or nephew, M., who I am so, so excited to meet.

M. will be arriving around December 22 (or, according to the very-organized Andrea, on December 22, as scheduled) and so David and I will have a few weeks to meet and play with this wee one before taking off on our trip. I love having Andrea and Binu so close by, and will be sad to miss out on this brand new part of their life as they watch M. grow and grow and grow. But when we get back (August or September 2008) I will shower the baby with heapfuls of love and lots of cool round-the-world presents.